Reinforced nonwoven fabric

ABSTRACT

A REINFORCED LAMINATED NONWOVEN FABRIC COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND WEB PILES OVERLAID WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE MACHINE DIRECTIONS DISPOSED AT AN ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER AND WITH RESPECT TO THE LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE DIRECTIONS OF THE FABRIC. THE FIRST AND SECOND WEB PILES ARE REINFORCED BY RESPECTIVE FIRST AND SECOND PILES OF FLUIDIZING MEDIUM, THE EXOTHERMIC-TYPE CRACKING GAS AND AN INERT GAS TO MAINTAIN THE TEMPERATURE OF THE REACTION ZONE BETWEEN ABOUT 1100*C. AND 1250*C.

Aug. 8, 1972 c. A. LEE 3,682,755

REINFORCED NONWOVEN FABRIC Filed Jan. 29, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Charles A. Lee

W Q" 2 2 110 ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 8, 1972 c LEE 3,682,755

REINFORCED NONWQVEN FABRIC Filed Jan. 29, 1970 v 4 SheetsSheet 2 Fig. 4

INVENTOR.

Charles A. Lee

ATTORNEYS.

x. 8,-1972 c. A. LEE 3,682,755

7 REINFORCED NONWOVEN FABRIC Filed Jan. 29, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Y J Charles A. Lee

ATTORNEYS Aug. 8, 1972 c, LEE 3,682,755.

REINFORCED NONWOVEN FABRIC Filed Jan. 29, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

l 52 48 r 49 50 o o o Fig.8

'INVENTOR. Charles A. Lee

ua ATTORNEYS.

3,682,755 Patented Aug. 8, 1972 3,682,755 REINFORCED NONWOVEN FABRIC Charles A. Lee, Knoxville, Tenn., assignor to International Paper Company, New York, NY. Filed Jan. 29, 1970, Ser. No. 6,688 Int. Cl. 1532b 5/12, 31/02 US. Cl. 161-57 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE This invention relates to laminated nonwoven fabrics, particularly to nonwoven composite fabrics useful in the production of disposable products.

It is desirable that nonwoven fabric be manufactured economically using inexpensive raw materials. It is also desirable that the ultimate physical properties of the fabric, such as strength and absorptivity, make the fabric useful in the manufacture of such items as disposable surgical towels, surgical drapes, hospital or other type clothing, bed sheets, wiping towels, and like items as may appear from time to time. The fabric of this invention may also be useful as a component of a particular product, for example, it may be used in fabricating disposable diapers, pads for incontinents, or the like. It will be appreciated that these and other items are necessarily in many respects diverse as regards their functions, each function dictating specific physical properties of the fabric; yet, in many respects the desired physical characteristics of the products are common to various of the items. For example, surgical towels and hospital bed sheets may be expected to be highly absorptive; and, bed sheets and hospital clothing, along with towels, are expected to exhibit considerable resistance to tear. Moreover, in each instance it is desired that the product be soft and willciently pliable, as to drape over a patient or to conform to a surface being wiped in the case of towels. Still further, opacity is desirable in disposable hospital clothing, desired in bed sheets, but of less significance in surgical towels.

Problems in hygiene are self'evident in respect to fabric intended for use in hospitals or related institutions such as doctor offices or clinics. Even though the fabric product is disposable, it may be desirable to sterilize the product before use. Treatment of a medical fabric for the purpose of destroying infectious agencies is usually accomplished through the use of steam under pressure, e.g. in autoclaves. For such uses, the disposable nonwoven fabric is made to be sterilized in an autoclave.

It is of importance in fabrics intended to be used under conditions where the fabric will be subject to abrasive forces that it be of a character such that the fibers or other components thereof will not become dislodged during use to deposit on the surface against which the fabric is abraded. Lint-free fabrics are especially desirable for surgical towels so as to prevent the deposition of lint in open wounds during surgical or first aid procedures. One specific problem in fibrous bed sheets or clothing when used in nurseries is the tendency of a baby or small child to scratch particulate matter loose from the sheet or clothing and eventually transfer the loose particulate matter into its mouth. The presence of lint is also objectionable when the lint may deposit as unsightly dust or may create or aggravate allergic reactions. Transfer of lint from disposable clothing to other objects, including other pieces of clothing, may give rise to distasteful appearances and cause consumers to reject the product.

It is known in the art that the addition of sizing materials to cellulosic materials can reduce the problem of lint. Sizing, as a treatment of cellulosic material generally comprises the addition to the material of resin, starch, or like substances, such additive being distributed substantially throughout the material. Sized fabrics, therefore, are undesirably stilf and do not possess the drape necessary to permit the fabric to conform to the contour of the surface being wiped in the case of toweling, or to permit the fabric to be utilized as clothing which is expected to conform generally to the contour of a human body and bend in accordance with body movements. In addition, overall dispersion of sizing in a fabric makes the fabric harsh to the touch and causes irritation when the fabric contacts tender body areas. The present invention provides a substantially lint-free nonwoven fabric which is desirably soft and flexible.

Hospitals and clinics utilize large quantities of disposable towels, clothing, bed sheets and the like, giving rise to problems of storage of these large quantities of disposable materials in a minimum of space. This storage problem is particularly acute when the individual stored items are bulky, and disposable nonwoven fabric is generally made relatively more bulky than its woven counterpart, this greater bulk being useful in imparting softness, texture, hand or like properties to the nonwoven product. Heretofore storage of large quantities of these disposable products fabricated from bulky nonwoven material has limited their use. The present invention provides, in one embodiment, a disposable product which may be made and stored in a non-bulky state and later conditioned when removed from storage so as to impart the desired bulk to the product. As will be explained further hereinafter, such conditioning may be performed by autoclaving the product, e.g. a surgical towel, just prior to its use. Further, disposable hospital clothing may be stored and likewise conditioned so as to increase its opacity.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide nonwoven fabric whose physical properties such as strength, softness and absorptivity make the fabric useful as a substitute for woven materials. It is a further object to provide a nonwoven fabric having increased strength and specifically having a high strength to weight ratio. It is a further object to provide a substantially lint-free nonwoven fabric. It is a further object to provide a novel fiberglass fabric.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become known by references to the following description and the accompanying drawings. In the drawrngs:

FIG. 1 is a representation of one embodiment of the reinforced nonwoven fabric of the present invention and depicts the fabric obtained by spirally-winding a single reinforced web with the web edges overlapping slightly;

FIG. 2 is an expanded view, part cut-away, of a portion of the fabric shown in FIG. 1, such portion being'the encircled corner indicated by the numerals 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary illustration depicting the spaced apart and crossed reinforcing filaments of one embodiment of this invention and fibers bonded to the filaments;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a portion of one embodiment of a base web having a plurality of discrete reinforcing filaments bonded thereon in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. is a representation of a portion of a further embodiment of a base web having a plurality of entangled reinforcing filaments bonded thereon in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a representation of a further embodiment of the fabric product of the present invention, partly cutaway and grossly out of scale for reasons of clarity, depicting a product obtained by simultaneously bias laying two separate reinforced base webs with the web edges overlapping slightly;

FIG. 7 is a representation of apparatus for applying reinforcing filaments to a base web; and

FIG. 8 is a representation of apparatus for bias laying reinforced base webs in accordance with the present invention.

With reference to the drawings, in accordance with the present invention, a soft, strong, nonwoven fabric 10 is provided by bonding a plurality of filaments 12 to a fiat web 13 with the filaments generally aligned with the machine direction of the web, spirally-Winding the filament-bearing web into a tubular configuration, and collapsing the tube to form a flat sheet comprising inner plies of crossing filaments 12 interposed between outer web plies 14, whose machine directions are disposed at an angle, e.g. obliquely, with respect to the longitudinal direction of the fabric 10. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, in the disclosed product 10 the web plies 14, 14', 15 and 15' whose respective machine directions (M.D.) extend obliquely ofthe machine direction of the product appear as segments of a composite run on each of the opposite sides of the flat web 13. Bonding of the crossed filaments one to another at their intersections and bond ing of the webs to the crossed filaments are also provided for.

It is contemplated in this invention that the base web 13 may comprise such materials as creped tissue of various basis weights or webs of spread tow as will be more fully discussed hereinafter. Such webs are conventionally said to possess a machine direction, defined as the direction of the web parallel to its forward movement during manufacture. Many webs are stronger in their machine direction than in their cross direction, e.g., transversely of their machine direction.

The base web 13 may bereinforced with discrete filaments 12 as depicted in FIG. 4, each spaced apart from adjacent filaments without interfilament contact, or with a filamentary mat 18 as depicted in FIG. 5 where there is entanglement or contact between the individual filaments 12. In any event, however, the indivdual reinforcing filaments preferably are generally directed in a single direction and are disposed on a base web with their alignment direction substantially parallel to the machine direction of the base web and bonded thereto.

The reinforcing filaments 12 of the present invention may be bonded to a base web 13 by means of adhesive disposed between the web and filaments, or in some instances, the filaments and/or the base web may be heatbondable so as to require only heat to effect the desired bonding. Alternatively, the adhesive itself may be beatbondable thermoplastic material.

In producing the fabric of the present invention, it has been found preferable to lay down a plurality of filaments upon a fiat base web 13 as an initial step. One acceptable base web may be creped tissue having a crepe ratio of between about 1.2 and 1.5, and a basis weight between about 5 and 16 pounds per ream of 2880 sq. ft. Typically, creped tissue has a fiber length between about and inch, but many other fiber lengths in the base material are acceptable for use in the present invention.

Creped tissue is normally low in wet strength, disintegrating into small fragments very soon after being wetted. Commonly, sizing or wet strength resins of various types have been added to the tissue to increase its wet strength. Such additives made the tissue stifi and harsh to the touch and destroyed its absorptivity. According to the present invention, such sizes or wet strength resins are unnecessary and even undesirable. In the present invention, all or most of the individual fibers of a tissue web are bonded to at least one of a plurality of relatively strong reinforcing filaments so as to cause the individual fibers to remain adhered to such filaments upon the fabric being subjected to moisture or even immersed in water or other liquid. Still further the product remains intact even when wrung to expel the liquid which it has absorbed. Moreover, it has been discovered that by appropriately spacing the reinforcing filaments, the individual fibers of the tissue web may be tenaciously held within the fabric product so as to substantially eliminate their dislodgment as lint. Whereas sizing or the addition of wet strength resin reduces the absorptivity of tissue webs,

either by penetrating the individual fibers and destroying.

their absorptivity or by substantially coating the fibers and rendering them impenetratable by liquids, in the present invention the individual fibers are preferably each bonded at one or a few isolated points along the fiber length to a reinforcing filament. That is, in many fibers, only one end of the fiber will be adhered to a filament, its otherend being free of bonds. Other fibers will be bonded only at their points of contact with a reinforcing filament. In accordance with the concepts of the present invention, therefore, the original highly absorptive nature of the tissue web is not destroyed by the web-to-filament bonds. Importantly, however, each fiber is preferably bonded to at least one filament, thereby creating a product wherein the fibers or fragments of tissue will not readily become dislodged during use of the product.

Moreover, in the tissue production process, the web fibers often assume a predominant orientation along the machine direction of the web. In addition, the lines of creping of the tissue extend transversely of the web by virtue of the circumstances of its manufacture. Accordingly, many tissue webs display markedly lower resistance to rupture when stressed in the cross direction than when stressed in the machine direction. As will appear more fully from subsequent discussion herein, generally aligned reinforcing filaments are applied to the web with the direction of filament alignment substantially parallel to the machine direction of the web, and the reinforced web is subsequently bias laid to achieve substantial strength in the longitudinal, transverse and diagonal directions of the fabric product.

It also has been found acceptable to form the fabric from a base web 13 formed of spread tow comprising a large number of long, preferably continuous filaments mutually entangled and bonded at many or all of their points of contact to form a coherent web. Tow normally comprises a very large number of continuous filaments (ends) in either monofilament or multi-filament structure in bundle form. The bundle is often produced by simultaneously spinning a very large number of synthetic filaments, such as polyester filaments, and collecting the spun filaments as a group. The long filaments of the bundle, of course, are substantially parallel but there is extensive interentwining or entanglement of neighboring filaments. Such a bundle may be spread into a fiat web by wellknown air spreading techniques. As desired, the web may be treated to render it more stable or coherent, as by applying an adhesive to bond the filaments one to another at their points of contact or, in the case of thermoplastic filaments, by passing the spread tow through a heated nip to effect bonding between filaments. As may be visualized, the spread fibers produce a gossamer web wherein the individual fibers extend generally parallel to one another in the machine direction of the web but are in contact with neighboring filaments at many points along the length of the web. In a base web produced from spread tow, the individual fibers are long, as distinguished from the relatively short fibers found in creped tissue. Tow of nylon, acetate, rayon, acrylic, polyester, mineral (e.g.

glass), or the like may be employed in the present in vention, depending primarily upon the properties desired in the fabric product. As will appear more fully hereinafter, spread tow may also form the reinforcing filaments 12 as well as the base web 13 itself.

Extensible reinforced fabrics appear to find more end uses than do inextensible fabrics. However, the present invention contemplates both such types of fabric, and only the appropriate combinations of components are used as will produce the desired product, for example, extensible reinforcing filaments may be used to make extensible fabrics. Creped tissue, by virtue of its transversely Oriented lines of creping, possesses such extensibility in its machine direction. Certain tow filaments are inherently elastic thereby causing the spread tow web to be extensible, and the extensibility of such filaments can be increased, or inelastic filaments or fibers may be made extensible, by crimping the tow, preferably before spreading, so as to impart extensibility to the web in a direction substantially perpendicular to the crimp lines. By means of the present invention, the extensibility of either type of web may be carried over into the fabric product so as to produce an extensible product. The choice of reinforcing filaments employed for a given product is significant and will be discussed hereinafter.

As stated above, extensible fabrics appear to find more end uses than inextensible fabrics. They also have been found to exhibit unusual strength properties, due in part to their ability to absorb both stress and impact forces. It is recognized, however, that nonextensible fabric products are desirable for certain end uses. Such fabrics may be made according to the present invention, as by using uncrimped glass fiber tow, which is relatively inextensible.

Both the creped tissue and spread tow webs of this invention are individually flimsy and somewhat gossamer. They possess low resistance to rupture, at least in the cross direction, and are individually unsuitable for producing such items as bed sheets, toweling, clothing, wipes, etc. The webs, however, are soft, pliable and relatively inexpensive. Each web presents a relatively even surface irrespective of the creping or crimping of the respective web fibers and when serving as the outermost layers of the fabric of this invention, imparts good hand to the fabric.

As referred to hereinbefore, the reinforcing filaments may comprise a plurality of discrete filaments 12 such as depicted in FIG. 4, or they may be in the form of a gossamer mat 18 such as depicted in FIG. 5. Preferably, the reinforcing filaments are laid down on a base web generally parallel to the machine direction of the base web. Base web materials usually exhibit greatest strength in a direction parallel to their respective machine direction. Disposing the reinforcing filaments substantially parallel to the greatest direction of strength of the web reinforces it in its direction of greatest strength and produces maximum strength in the webin such single direction. When the reinforced web subsequently is overlaid on itself or another reinforced web with directions of maximum strength of each ply disposed obliquely to the other, e.g., at right angles, and obliquely to the longitudinal direction of the formed fabric, the resultant laminated fabric exhibits great strength in all directions.

It has been noted that various types of filaments having diverse properties may be suitable for use in the present invention. As stated, the synthetic filaments are inherently extensible, some to a greater extent than others. On the other hand, glass filaments possess little, if any, stretchability. Moreover, certain of the filament types shrink upon being subjected to elevated temperatures. Accordingly, as the end use of the fabric product dictates, appropriate filaments exhibiting the desired physical characteristics may be chosen for reinforcing the web base material. Specifically, heat shrinkable filaments, such as organic polymer filaments exhibiting high shrinkage upon being subjected to elevated temperatures, may be preferred when the fabric is to be used as surgical toweling. The

toweling may be produced in a smooth fiat sheet occupying minimum storage space, and upon being sterilized in an autoclave, the filaments shrink and create a crinkling of the fabric and resultant textured surfaces closely resembling Woven fabrics. On the other hand, a dimensionally stable surgical drape may be produced employing glass tow base web, reinforced with glass filaments and subsequently formed into a flat sheet as described herein.

Preferably, the reinforcing filaments are sufiiciently small in diameter as will permit their being disposed between two outer Web plies 14, 15 without producing undesirable ridges or impressions on the outer surfaces of the fabric. Larger diameter filaments may be used, however, These larger filaments are frequently stronger and often can be made to impart a definite texture to the outer surfaces of the fabric as a consequence of their impressions appearing on such outer surfaces. Individual filaments, either singularly or in mat form, having a denier on the order of 50 and exhibiting about 6 grams per denier tensile strength have been found useful in producing a variety of suitable disposable products, such as bed sheets, surgical wipes, and the like.

The benefits of the present invention have been found best obtained through the use of either thermoplastic filaments or a thermoplastic adhesive disposed on the reinforcing filaments, or even thermoplastic base webs. Such thermoplastic materials provide a desirable bond between the reinforcing filaments and their respective base webs. Also, as will be discussed hereinafter, they may be made to effect further bonds to overlaid webs by later softening them by the application of heat and, while the thermoplastic materials are soft, pressing the filaments and webs together, as by passing overlaid rein-forced webs through a heated nip. Preferably each reinforcing filament is individually passed through a thermoplastic adhesive prior to laying down of the filament onto a base Web. Mats of reinforcing filaments may have adhesive applied thereto by similarly passing the mat through an adhesive. One acceptable adhesive comprises an acrylic latex resin (such as that sold under the trade name Geon Latex by B. F. Goodrich Company). This resin adheres to most filaments in the form of a uniform coating. Other acceptable adhesives, for example, a polyvinyl acetate sold by Monsanto Company under the trade name 'Gelva T8100, have been noted to adhere to certain filaments in irregularly-spaced droplets as distinguished from a continuous uniform coat of adhesive on each filament.

Referring to 'FIG. 3 it has been discovered that, when heated at least to its film-forming temperature, adhesive 16 applied to the individual filaments 12 becomes dispersed around the circumference and along each filament to form a film of adhesive over substantially the entire surface of each filament. Importantly, this film forming process also has been found to spread the adhesive laterally of each filament 12 into the base web mmediately adjacent the filaments. In addition, the adhesive spreads from each filament and penetrates inot the web to contact underlying fibers.

As depicted in FIG. 3, in the initial fabrication step of laying down the reinforcing filaments, the individual fibers 17 of each web ply adhere to those filaments aligned with the machine direction of such web. By spacing the reinforcing filaments apart from one another by a distance not greater than on the order of the typical fiber length of the fibrous web plus about twice the average distance which the adhesive extends laterally of each filament, substantially each individual fiber of the web will be adjacent a reinforcing filament and be bonded thereto, creating a very coherent fabric. Beneficially, this fiber bonding does not result in the deposition of adhesive over the entire surface of each fiber 17, but there are substantial portions of many fibers which receive no adhesive and thus retain their softness and absorptivity in the fabric product.

It is preferred to space the reinforcing filaments as set forth above, but it is to be noted that it may be desirable in certain instances to produce fabrics having fewer reinforcing filaments per unit of web width. Such fabrics are weaker, however, and exhibit increased tendency to de posit lint, etc. Moreover, it is acceptable to overlay two reinforced webs, one web having closely spaced filaments (e.g. about one fiber length apart) and the other web having more widely spaced filaments. In such products, the filament spacing is determined principally by the end use and desired properties of the fabric product. It is preferably that the filaments be laid down generally parallel to the machine direction of the web and generally perpendicularly to the lines of creping or crimping of the web, for the reasons discussed hereinbefore.

The reinforced webs produced as set forth above are useful as they exist, for limited applications. As indicated hereinbefore, however, a fabric having greatly improved strength properties may be obtained by spirally winding one or more reinforced webs into a tubular configuration, preferably with the reinforcing filaments on the inside of the tube, collapsing such tube into a flat sheet having outer web plies overlying inner plies of crossed threads, and bonding the plies to create a strong coherent fabric.

This spiral winding and collapsing procedure produces fabrics such as are depicted in FIGS. 1 and 6. The fabric comprises at least two outer web plies 14, (also 14', 15' in the product produced from two simultaneously spira1lywound reinforced webs and depicted in FIG. 6) whose respective reinforcing filaments 12 are disposed facing each other and crossing each other. The angle at which the respective filaments of respective overlaid webs cross is established by the angle at which the respective web is laid down with respect to the longitudinal direction of the spirally wound sheet.- Detailed sections in FIG. 2 depict the lines of creping 19, in the outer web plies 14 and 15 and show that the respective crepe lines of the outer web plies are also disposed obliquely to each other and to the longitudinal dimension of the fabric. In accordance with this invention, the angle of bias between the direction of the reinforcing filaments and the longitudinal direction of the fabric may be between about 15 and 75 degrees with a 45 bias angle being preferred sothat overlaid filaments cross each other at right angles and are further disposed at 45 angles with respect to the longitudinal direction of the fabric. When the reinforced webs are overlaid in this preferred manner, the fabric is uniquely strong in that the product exhibits substantial strength and elongation in the direction of its length, width, and diagonally of its length.

When employing thermoplastic filaments or adhesive, it has been found possible to enhance both the strength of the fabric and its coherence, including its lint-free characteristic, by passing the collapsed sheet through a heated nip. As the collapsed bias-laid sheet is passed through the heated nip, the thermoplastic material is softened and the pressure in the nip forces the crossed filaments into intimate contact with each other at their intersections. The filaments then bond one to another. Additionally, the nip pressure enhances lateral dispersion of the adhesive into the fibrous web and, due to the controlled filament spacing, individual fibers of the web become bonded to at least one filament, and numerous fibers of each web become bonded to the fibers and filaments of the superposed other web to create the reinforced fabric of this invention. The filament-to-filament bonding of the present fabric establishes a multiplicity of interweb bonds. Also, there is produced a bond between the individual fibers of one web ply and the filaments reinforcing the other web ply to develop a network of criss-crossed bonds adhering the overlaid wabs together in a flat sheet. This network of bonds has been found to provide a very desirable degree of flexibility in the product and at the same time restrict interweb movement such that the fabric product exhibits an increased ability to absorb energy without rupture. Moreover, the improved adherence obtained by passing the overlaid webs through a heated nip reduces the degree of web overlap during spiral winding which may be necessary to insure a coherent fabric sheet. Similar bonding may be obtained using thermoplastic base 'webs.

For purposes of this disclosure, apparatus for produc ing the fabric product of this invention is depicted in two parts. FIG. 7 depicts the first part and shows one embodiment of apparatus for lying reinforcing filaments 12 on a base web 13. FIG. 8 depicts the second part and shows one embodiment of apparatus for spirally winding one or more reinforced webs into a tubular configuration, collapsing such tube into a fiat sheet, and bonding the overlaid plies.

With specific reference to FIG. 7, a plurality of reinforcing filaments 12 are dispensed from spools 22 held in creel 21 and passed forwardly through an-eye-board 24, thence through a comb 25 which maintains the individual filaments 12 spaced apart and aligns them in a selected plane. In the present embodiment this plane extends perpendicularly to the plane of FIG. 7 so as to present the several filaments simultaneously to the nip between a printing roll 28 and a meter roll 27. Individual spools 22 may be provided with brake means (not shown) for establishing a hold-back pressure on each filament 12 for the purpose of stretching the filaments as desired prior to bonding them to the base web.

A fountain roll 29' partly immersed beneath the surface of an adhesive 30 containedin an elongated tank 31 disposed beneath the roll 29 picks up the adhesive from the tank 31 and transfers a metered quantity thereof to the printing roll 28 at the nip between the fountain roll and printing roll. Preferably, the thickness of the film of adhesive on the printing roll is maintained sufliciently great so that a filament passing through the nip between the rolls 27 and 28 will be completely covered with adhesive as it passes through such nip. It is preferable that each filament pick up a uniform coat of adhesive as it passes through the nip. On the other hand, as has been pointed out, the filaments may pick up adhesive in the form of somewhat irregularly spaced droplets which flow together upon being heated to their film-forming temperature and thereupon form a uniform adhesive coat on each filament.

The adhesive-bearing filaments 12 are laid down in continuous fashion upon the base web 13 as it is fed from a roll 54 over idler roll 33 simultaneously with the adhesive-bearing filaments 12. The web with the filaments thereon is passed over an idler roll 34 and directed vertically between a set of heater banks 35, 36 maintained at a temperature at least as high as the film-forming temperature of the adhesive so as to insure that the adhesive thoroughly coats each filament and also to cause the adhesive to migrate from each filament into the base web. Also, as the web and adhesive-bearing filaments pass between the heater banks, the adhesive is at least partly dried and the filaments adhered to the web. Adhesive migration laterally from each filament and its contact with individual fibers of the base web is depictcd in FIG. 3. Preferably the adhesive is of a type which will not penetrate the fibers to destroy their absorptivity but will remain as a film on a portion of the outer fiber surface. Moreover, control over the quantity and viscosity of the adhesive deposited on each filament is maintained so as to limit lateral migration to prevent substantial blocking of the interstices between fibers with resultant stiffness in the fabric and destruction of its softness and absorptivity. A film of adhesive over the entire surface of each filament assures the presence of adhesive at each filament-to-filament intersection when the reinforced web is bias-laid, and hence insures a bond at each such intersection. Such a film also provides adhesive in position to adhere the fibers of an overlaid web to such adhesivecoated filaments as set forth hereinbefore.

The web with its adhered filaments is passed over an idler roll 37 and preferably collected as by wind-up roll 39.

For some uses of the fabric the relative hold-back pressures of the base web 13 and reinforcing filaments 12 are selectively adjusted so that the filaments may be stressed and laid down on the web while in such a stressed state. This stress in the filaments is retained in the filamentbearing web as collected. During subsequent bias laying of the web, this stress is relaxed, causing the web to be gathered by the filaments and assume a crinkled or textured physical appearance. In the bias-laid fabric, such crinkled webs impart bulk to the product, such bulk being controllable through selection of the initial stress imparted to the reinforcing filaments.

Bias-laying of the filament-bearing web hereinbefore described is effected by spirally winding, collapsing and bonding the reinforced web through use of the apparatus depicted in FIG. 8. The apparatus depicted in FIG. 8 shows only one roll 39 of reinforced web being spirally-wound so as to overlay the web upon itself in the flat finished fabric. This fabric is depicted in FIG. 1. The same type apparatus may be provided with a second parent roll of reinforced web and may be employed to spirally wind two reinforced webs simultaneously. A product so produced is depicted in FIG. 6.

Referring specifically to FIG. 8, a roll 39 of reinforced web is rotatably mounted on a platform 42 which is itself rotated by a sprocket 43 connected to a drive motor 44 by a chain 45. A mandrel 46 depends from the bottom 47 of the platform 42 and is rotated relatively counter to the platform 42 so as to remain stationary. Through the use of guide apparatus the reinforced web is spirally wound about the mandrel 46 to form a tube. At the same time, the tube is continuously collapsed and withdrawn from the mandrel by rolls 48, 49. As may be visualized from FIG. 8, the tube is collapsed progressively as it is drawn from mandrel 46. Upon passing through the nip of rolls 48, 49, the tube is collapsed completely into a fiat sheet 50.

Subsequent treatment of the flat sheet 50 to effect ply bonding depends upon the materials used in fabricating the reinforced web, e.g., whether such materials are thermoplastic. In the present embodiment, at least one component of the fiat sheet is thermoplastic. Accordingly, the flat sheet 50 is passed through the nip between a heated roll Sland a back-up roll 52, whereupon the thermoplastic component, for example, thermoplastic adhesive, is softened by the applied heat and while soft, is pressed into contact with the other components to effect bonding of the several plies into a coherent laminated fabric. The fabric is collected as by a wind-up roll 53.

Particularly when producing fabrics having creped tissue outer web plies bonded to inner plies of reinforcing filaments by a thermoplastic adhesive, the heat and pressure applied to the flat sheet 50 by passing it through the heated nip between rolls 51, 52 insures the desired lateral migration of the adhesive into the fibrous structure of each web ply. The pressure in such nip also presses each outer web ply into contact with the reinforcing filaments immediately underlying the opposite outer web ply thereby effecting bonding of each outer Web ply to both inner plies of reinforcing filaments. This bonding action enhances the strength of the product and assures that substantially all of the individual fibers of the creped tissue web plies are bonded to at least one reinforcing filament.

As has been stated, the method of the present invention may be used to produce various products. For example, the present method may be employed to produce a strong coherent gossamer fabric. Specifically, fabrics may be made from webs formed by opening, i.e. spreading, tow bundles having total deniers between 50,000 and about 600,000 to a width of about 10 to more than 100 inches. Each filament of such tow bundles may have a denier between about 1.5 and 30. Depending upon the chosen combination of total denier, denier per filament,

and width of the spread web, it is possible to make webs having between less than a hundred to several thousand ends per inch of web width. Such webs may be very light weight. For example, a 50,000 denier tow bundle, each filament thereof having a denier of 2.25, when opened to inches, produces a web having a weight less than about 0.3 oz./yd. Such spread tow Webs may be stabilized with a polyvinyl acrylic adhesive, spirally wound into a tube, collapsed to produce a multi-plied flat sheet, and the plies bonded to produce a product which exhibits an exceptionally large strength per unit weight of fabric. As indicated hereinbefore, the spread tow web may be reinforced with discrete filaments or a spread tow mat or it may itself serve as reinforcing.

A further unique product obtainable through use of the present invention is a strong nonextensible surgical drape which is also flame resistant. This product is produced by reinforcing a matted glass web with glass filaments and overlaying the reinforced web as described above. As described before with reference to creped tissue outer web plies, the fibrous matter of the glass outer web plies is adhesively bonded to the reinforcing filaments and retained within the fabric. This fabric is particularly useful in surgical drapes for the reason that the fabric develops little or no static electricity during use and can be usedfreely in the presence of flammable vapors such as the ether or oxygen employed in operating rooms.

EXAMPLE I.

A fabric was produced employing the concepts set forth hereinbefore. In this example, 735 nylon multifilaments 12 each 50 denier and having a tensile strength of 6 grams per denier, were fed forwardly through the nip between the printing roll 28 and meter roll 27 where each filament was provided with a uniform coat of an acrylic latex adhesive sold by B. F. Goodrich Company under the trade name of Geon Latex.

The adhesive-bearing filaments were then laid down upon a web 13 of creped tissue as the filaments and Web were passed simultaneously around an idler roll 33. The creped tissue sheet had a basis weight of 9 pounds per ream of 2880 sq. ft. and a crepe ratio of 1.3. In this example, the tissue web was 105 inches wide and the filaments were substantially equally spaced so as to provide 7 ends per inch of web width. The filament-bearing tissue was then directed between opposite parallel heater banks where it was heated to at least about F.

Two of these reinforced tissue webs (as distinguished from the single web depicted in FIG. 8) were simultaneously and continuously spirally wound into a tubular geometry and collapsed to form a flat sheet comprising outer plies of tissue web and inner plies of crossed filaments. This product is depicted in FIG. 6. This sheet was then passed through the nip of a set of heated rolls whereupon the combination of heat and pressure caused the adhesive to soften and spread such that the filaments were bonded one to another at their crossings and the fibers of each tissue web were more thoroughly bonded to the filaments immediately underlying such web. Additionally, many of the fibers of each web were pressed into adhesive contact with the filaments associated with the other outer tissue web, thus eifectin g a substantial bond through out the thickness of the laminated fabric and assuring that substantially all fibers of the tissue webs were bonded to at least one filament.

The bursting strength (Mullen test) of this product was 22.5 lbs. in the dry state and 20.5 lbs. when thoroughly wetted with water, indicating the greatly increased strength of the product as compared to the non-reinforced tissue webs. No lint or fragments were noted when the product ruptured. Likewise, there was no evidence of lint or dislodged fragments when the fabric product was rubbed over an abrasive surface representative of a typrcal end use of the product.

The product exhibited elongation values of 32.6% 28.3% and 30.2% when stretched in its machine direction, cross direction and diagonally of its length, respectively. These values show the ability of the product to absorb stress and impact forces in several directions.

This product was further tested by subjecting the fabric product to repeated stressing in a variety of directions, whereupon it was observed that even though the fibers of the tissue webs separated from one another, the fabric did not .rupture. Such testing also revealed the capability of the product to retain the individual tissue web fibers attached to the several reinforcing filaments even after rupture or the pulling away of one or more filaments from the body of the fabric.

The absorbency rate of the product was 2.5 seconds, tested in accordance with TAPPI Standard T432ts-64 (0.10 ml.), which is well within the usually acceptable absorbency rates for ,toweling, wipes and the like. Its basis weight was 23.7 pounds per ream of 2880 square feet.

The tensile strengths of the product when measured along its longitudinal (machine) direction and transverse (cross) direction were 1.8 and 1.9 pounds per inch of sample width, respectively. The product tensile strength was 5.6 pounds per inch of sample width when measured in a direction parallel to the filaments of one ply of reinforcing filaments (at an angle to the filaments of the other play of reinforcing filaments).

EXAMPLE II A further fabric was made employing a synthetic tow. Prior to spreading, the tow comprised a bundle of long, continuous crimped 2.5 denier polyester filaments, having a total denier of 100,000. This bundle was spread by air spreaders to a width of 105 inches to produce a gossamer web, the filaments of which were oriented generally parallel to each other and to the length of the web. The filaments, however, were substantially entangled with neighboring filaments along their lengths.

The spread tow was passed through the nip between a printing roll and a meter roll where an ethylenevinyl acetate derivative adhesive was applied to the individual filaments of the web. This adhesive is sold under the trade name of Elvase PB31872 by E. I. du Pont de Nemours. The adhesive-bearing web was directed between opposed heater banks and heated so as to insure dispersion of the adhesive over the entire surface of each filament of the web and to effect at least partial drying of the adhesive and bonding of the filaments one to another at their points of contact. This procedure stabilized the web in-its spread state.

Two such webs were spirally wound, collapsed and bonded as explained hereinbefore with reference to FIG. 8 (two web rolls were employed as distinguished from the single web roll depicted in FIG. 8). The flat sheet product was passed through a heated nip where the thermoplastic adhesive disposed on each filament was softened and the filaments pressed into contact at'their points of crossing to produce bonding and a coherent bias-laid fabric.

The product of this example possessed a weight of 0.95 ounce per square yard. Its tensile strength was 5.7 pounds per inch of sample width in the longitudinal direction, 7.8 pounds per inch of sample width in the transverse direction and 10.3 pounds per inch of sample, Width in the diagonal direction, indicating exceptional strengths per unit weight of fabric. Its bursting strength (Mullen test) was 43 p.s.i. The product was soft and pliable.

EXAMPLE III A further fabric was made in accordance with the present method and employing the tow described in Example II. In the present example, the spread tow web, with Elvase adhesive thereon, was laid down on a creped tissue web having a basis weight of 9 poundsper ream of 12 2880 square feet and a crepe ratio of, 1.3. The web with the overlaid spread tow inches wide) was passed between heater banks to bond the tow to the tissue web and two such reinforced webs were formed into a laminated fabric as in Example I.

Upon testing, this product exhibited elongations of 88.9%, 91.2% and 60.0% in its machine direction, cross direction and diagonally of its length, respectively. Its absorbency rate was 2.5 seconds (TAPPI T432ts-64).

The burst strength of this tow-reinforced fabric was 56 lbs. (dry) and 55.5 lbs. (wet) (Mullen test).

EXAMPLE IV A dimensionally stable fabric was produced by reinforcing a glass base web with a plurality of glass filaments as in Example I.

The bias laid fabric product obtained was subjected to steam of 250 F. pounds pressure for one hour which is representative of the usual sterilization procedure em: ployed in hospitals, clinics, and the like. Measurement of the product dimensions before and after such autoclave treatment revealed no appreciable change in either the width or length of the fabric.

Various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. For example, the reinforcing filaments may be disposed on the outermost surface of the fabric instead of or in addition to. their being disposed inwardly of the laminated fabric. In those fabrics having external reinforcing filaments, the web plies may be bonded by disposing thermoplastic adhesive on that surface of each web opposite its reinforcements and passing the overlaid webs through a heated nip to effect bonding on one web to the other. Further, the webs may be thermoplastic so as to bond one to the other when overlaid and passed through a heated nip. Also, additional plies, either reinforced or non-reinforced, may be added to the fabric as from web rolls 55, 56 of FIG. 8. As desired such additional plies may be provided with adhesive and bonded to the bias laid fabric by the rolls 51, 52 with the reinforcements of the added webs running in the machine direction of the fabric. Various features believed to be novel are included in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible laminated nonwoven product having longitudinal and transverse directions comprising at least two segmented runs, each of the segments of each run including a ply of nonwoven web material having opposite generally flat surfaces defining opposite flat surfaces of such segment and a machine direction, said web ply being reinforced in its machine direction by a plurality of individual long filaments that are oriented generally in a common direction and bonded to at least one of said generally flat surfaces of such web ply, such common direction being generally parallel to the machine direction of such web ply, said segmented runs being superposed one on the other with the machine directions of the web plies of their respective segments crossing and oriented obliquely to the longitudinal and transverse directions of said product and with one of the fiat surfaces of each of their respective segments facing inwardly of the laminated product, saidinwardly facing flat surfaces having no portion thereof exposed outwardly of the product, said runs being bonded one to the other at spaced apart locations over substantially the entire area of said facing surfaces to join said runs in a laminate having good drape and hand.

2. The product of claim 1 wherein said filaments are bonded continuously along their respective lengths to their respective web plies.

3. The product of claim 1 wherein said web plies each comprise a plurality of individual fibers substantial numbers of which are bonded to respective reinforcing filaments to provide a substantially lint-free fabric.

4. The product of claim 1 wherein the respective filaments of each of said segments are directed at an angle 13 of between about 15 and 75 degrees with respect to the longitudinal direction of said product.

5. The product of claim 1 wherein said filaments and said web plies are extensible.

6. The product of claim 1 wherein the reinforcing filaments of said product shrink when heated so that upon the application of heat to said product said filaments shrink to a greater degree than said web plies, whereby said web plies are puckered and projected out of the plane of the product so as to impart bulk to said product.

7. The product of claim 1 wherein said web plies are formed of cellulosic fibers and an adhesive bonds said cellulosic fibers to respective filaments with an adhering force such that upon application of a rupture force to the product any cellulosic fi'bers detached from said web plies remain adhered to said filaments.

8. The product of claim 1 wherein said web plies each comprise matted synthetic fibers.

9. The product of claim 1 wherein said web plies each comprise spread tow having continuous individual filaments of synthetic material directed generally in a respective machine direction with substantial entanglement with neighboring filaments.

10. The product of claim 1 further including at least one additional Web ply reinforced with long filaments aligned generally in the machine direction of said additional web ply, said additional reinforced web ply being bonded to at least one of said other web plies and disposed with its machine direction aligned with the longitudinal direction of said product.

11. The product of claim 1 wherein said segmented runs are superposed with their respective reinforcing filaments disposed therebetween.

12. The product of claim 1 wherein said web plies each comprise paper.

13. The product of claim 12 wherein said web plies each comprise creped tissue having a crepe ratio of be- 14 tween about 1.2 and 1.5 and a basis weight between about 5 and 16 pounds per ream of 2880 square feet.

14. The product of claim 13 wherein said individual filaments of each web ply are spaced apart from one another a distance on the order of the average length of the fibers of said tissue webs.

15. The product of claim 1 wherein the filaments comprise glass.

16. The product of claim 15 wherein said web plies each comprise matted glass fibers.

17. The product of claim 1 including an adhesive disposed along substantially the entire length of said reinforcing filaments and bonding said filaments to said web plies.

18. The product of claim 17 wherein said web plies comprise cellulosic fibers and said reinforcing filaments are spaced apart by a distance no greater than on the order of the average length of the fibers of the web plies plus about twice the average distance the adhesive extends laterally from individual filaments.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,381,184 8/1945 Ripley 161--59 X 3,476,635 11/1969 Heh 161-166 X 3,546,056 12/1970 Thomas l6l57 3,563,838 2/1971 Edwards l6l57 FOREIGN PATENTS 218,632 12/1957 Australia l6ll4l WILLIAM A. POWELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

